PlatinumGames’ long-running NieR series has quite the devoted fan base, with each title in the franchise having been poured over and scrutinized for countless hours to uncover the myriad number of secrets left behind by Yoko Taro and his team. That said, the final secret of the 2017 title NieR: Automata has managed to elude gamers these past four years, though thankfully a vigilant and dedicated dataminer has finally brought said secret into the light.

Well-known dataminer and modder Lance McDonald recently took to Twitter to reveal that he had discovered a cheat code hard-coded into the NieR: Automata engine. When activated immediately after defeating the game’s first boss, this code allows its user to skip all the way to the ‘true ending’ of NieR: Automata. Spoilers for the game below:

I found a cheat code in NieR Automata that allows you to skip to the last ending immediately after killing the first boss and unlock the bonus modes. I’ll do a full video soon. It’s not a glitch, it’s an actual cheat code hard-coded into the engine. @yokotaro pic.twitter.com/FtuNPovq6F

— Lance McDonald (@manfightdragon) January 3, 2021

For those unaware, unlocking NieR: Automata’s Ending E throws players into an arcade-style shooter that tasks you with destroying the game’s credits. Once the player completes this mini-game they are given the option to sacrifice their save data to help others conquer said mini-game, with one’s save data actually being erased if they choose to do so. This cheat code lets players get to Ending E without having to give up their save data, making this quite the impressive find.

（◎血◎）ｺﾞﾁｭｳｲｸﾀﾞｻｲ https://t.co/5EmCEtnM9E

— yokotaro (@yokotaro) January 3, 2021

Since Lance McDonald’s announcement, both Yoko Taro and the Japanese NieR account have confirmed that the recent discovery is in fact the game’s final secret, with Yoko Taro going on to say that it took 3 years and 10 months to uncover. It also took McDonald hundreds of hours of reverse engineering, for what it’s worth. McDonald has confirmed that a ‘full video’ showing the cheat will be coming soon. We appreciate your efforts!

So, thoughts on the discovery of the final NieR: Automata secret? Let us know in the comments section below, and as always, stay tuned to Don’t Feed the Gamers for all the latest gaming and entertainment news! Don’t forget to follow DFTG on Twitter for our 24/7 news feed!